Holly Valance’s brother-in-law Christian Candy denies threatening to sell a businessman’s debt to Russian gangsters

PROPERTY tycoon Christian Candy has denied putting "the fear of God" into another businessman by threatening to sell his debt to Russian gangsters.

Mr Candy, whose brother Nick is married to ex-Neighbours beauty Holly Valance, told the High Court: "I don't deal with shady people."

He insisted he was "tough but fair" and the allegation was "fundamentally wrong".

Mr Candy and his older brother Nick are jointly attempting to fight off a claim by property developer Mark Holyoake for £132million damages.

The claim is against both Christian and Nick, who are best known for creating the luxury One Hyde Park apartment complex in Knightsbridge, central London.

Mr Holyoake, 44, alleges the brothers subjected him and his family to a campaign of intimidation, including threats against his then pregnant wife Emma, after a property deal went wrong.

He claims Nick Candy, a long-time friend from university days, warned him that if he did not comply with Christian's wishes his loan would be sold to Russians who would "not think twice about hurting him or his family to get what they wanted".

Roger Stewart QC, cross-examining Christian Candy, suggested that the Russian threat had put the fear of God into Mr Holyoake.

Mr Candy, 42, said he was "disgusted" by the allegations and such threats were not his way of doing business.

He said: "It is just not credible. Threatening people with Russians? It is fundamentally wrong."

Mr Holyoake borrowed £12million from Christian Candy's company CPC Group in October 2011 to help him buy Grosvenor Gardens House in Belgravia, London, to convert into a luxury property for a substantial profit.

He gave evidence that he eventually paid back more than £37million on the two-year loan and had to sell up at a loss of £100million in potential profits after incurring millions of pounds in legal fees and other costs.

He is accusing the Candy brothers of being involved in a conspiracy against him to obtain Grosvenor Gardens House at a lower value, or to extort "very significant" sums of money from him and his company, Hotblack.

His wife Emma has told the court links between the Candy brothers and several high-profile figures who died in mysterious circumstances "made me fear for my husband's life".

Earlier this week the explosive civil trial heard claims Christian Candy "hated" his sister-in-law Holly Valance and had tried to persuade him not to marry her.

Emma Holyoake alleged Christian said of Holly at a party: “If she sees me coming she better f***ing cross over onto the other side of the road.”

She added: “Holly used some pretty strong and fruity language to describe Christian, the gist of which was that he was rude, aggressive, dishonest and a cruel man.”

Christian denied bullying his brother Nick, 44, telling the court: “I love my brother massively.”

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